Calgary Oakland A's Bench Coach Ryan Christenson Performs Nazi Salute In Victory Celebration | HuffPost Sports - Action.News ABC Action News WestNet-HD Weather Traffic

Oakland A s bench coach Ryan Christenson apologized for twice performing a Nazi salute after his teams 6-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Thursday night.

After the game, Christenson said the gesture was unintentional.

The moment, widely shared on social media, showed Christenson making the salute as players came in from the field at the games conclusion. Pitcher Liam Hendriks then pushed Christensons arm into a more normal elbow bump position. After trading a couple of elbow bumps, Christenson turned and performed the Nazi salute again:

We take this time to introduce you to Oakland As bench coach Ryan Christenson ... who likely saw his last day on an MLB field

W ... T ... F?!?! (@1053TheFan @1053SS @RJChoppy) pic.twitter.com/RlNbeRgjeo

TROY HUGHES (@TommySledge) August 7, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"TROY HUGHES","author_url":"https://twitter.com/TommySledge","cache_age":86400,"description":"We take this time to introduce you to Oakland As bench coach Ryan Christenson ... who likely saw his last day on an MLB fieldW ... T ... F?!?! 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We take this time to introduce you to Oakland As bench coach Ryan Christenson ... who likely saw his last day on an MLB field

W ... T ... F?!?! (@1053TheFan @1053SS @RJChoppy ) pic.twitter.com/RlNbeRgjeo
TROY HUGHES (@TommySledge) August 7, 2020

Christenson told longtime As beat reporter Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that the teams general manager, David Forst, had called him immediately after the game for an explanation:

I just spoke to Ryan Christenson and he said he knew instantly what it was about when David Forst called him because when he had reached out to do the karate chop with Hendriks, Hendriks said No, no, no straight arm! and Christenson took a second to realize what he meant.

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I just spoke to Ryan Christenson and he said he knew instantly what it was about when David Forst called him because when he had reached out to do the karate chop with Hendriks, Hendriks said No, no, no straight arm! and Christenson took a second to realize what he meant.
Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 7, 2020

Obviously I wasnt doing that intentionally, Christenson told the Chronicle . I just blacked out, my mind wasnt there and I spaced out. Im sure it looks terrible. I did it, but it was not intentional. I dont know what more to say.

The As released a statement saying the gesture looked like a Nazi salute.

We do not support or condone this gesture or the racist sentiment behind it, the statement said. We are deeply sorry that this happened on our playing field.

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Christenson also stated that he was trying to adapt the elbow bump gesture to create more distance from the players due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

My gesture unintentionally resulted in a racist and horrible salute that I do not believe in, he said. What I did is unacceptable and I deeply apologize.

The 46-year-old played for the As for parts of four seasons over a six-year Major League career and has been the teams bench coach since 2018. He was reportedly a candidate for Pittsburgh Pirates manager during the off-season but did not get the position.

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